Ah yes, that feeling of the first morning after the time change. The pro? This…
Good morning March 9. You look good. For now. I realize you will turn into clouds and rain later, but we need that, so I’ll accept it. It’s my 53rd birthday today…a suitably prime number. I’ll accept that too.
The sheep where we stayed this weekend.
The man picked a place within walking distance of a few wineries…one was closed until July, though, and the road for a few of the others was a little iffy, but we did it. The first one, Highland Valley, came with Nate…
Dogs are always a plus for us. They have a nice, small, personable setup with a great view…
And we carried a bottle away for later. We actually stayed in an Airbnb directly across from here (not that house…that house was crazy huge).
We found out later that I actually knew someone down the road from where we stayed, three houses down, and I’d been there years ago, but it was all avocados then…now it is more grapes. The fires came through here unfortunately. We saw some evidence of that.
Poor Nate. Works so hard.
A good winery has something that brings you back besides the wine, eh?
Not a lot of greenery yet…
There was an actual barn owl in that owl box, but the sun was right behind it, so I couldn’t get a picture of it.
I am regretting our delay in getting an owl box up, because the owl has left and I’ve heard the mockingbird a few times. No mockingbird. Want owl instead. Does not keep me awake with his/her gentle hoots.
We walked back to where we were staying to drop off the bottle and grab a backpack. The next winery was further out…this is where we met the property’s cat…
We persuaded her to stop before leaving with us…and walked the mile to Domaine Artefact.
It was much busier, more of a business and less personable. But they had food and we needed lunch.
There was another one in the area, but at that point, we decided to take a break. It’s supposed to be a 1-ounce pour for a tasting, so maybe the equivalent of two glasses of wine at that point, but I’m guessing they were more than that. Plus a 2-mile hike in there. So back to the residence for the man to nap and me to read my book.
This is the road we were walking on…recently resurfaced with no lines…so not the safest in the world…
It was fine in daylight. Probably they don’t expect people to be walking it. Certainly we were the only ones. I’m laughing about it, but it was fine.
At night we headed out to Cordiano Winery, which was huge and very busy. We found a table and had some wine and dinner…
And then headed outside for another glass and a chilly view. They have blankets and these guys…
So we were fine. Back to the home base for sleep…we had planned a trip to the Safari Park in the morning, but the man was feeling like he was coming down with something (no fever, so probably not COVID-19, but he still didn’t feel well), so we had breakfast and headed home to try to catch up on stuff (laundry, groceries, email)…the children missed us.
Maybe. We had dinner at my parents, where I received this mutant cheesecake slice…
Hopefully a portent (momentous, not calamitous) for the year. Hey, cheesecake is pretty good no matter what it looks like. I cannot complain. And then yes, I did grades. And answered school emails. Then I sorted all those pieces I finished cutting last week…finally!
Kitten was not assisting. I find cats very unhelpful in most stages of quiltmaking…all sorted.
I made it to bed a little early, although the time change confuzzled my brain and wouldn’t let me fall asleep. Gotta love a new day with not enough sleep! My faithful companion…
I did a little wool stitching that I can’t show you before I went to bed. I’m up now. School today. My birthday includes a 2-hour staff meeting, which seems remarkably unfair. Then exercise and someone else making dinner. I’ll refrain from grading today, out of respect for myself, and then will start ironing! Which is exciting, I must say. May the 53rd year have a lot of art and beautiful landscapes…
Kathy Nida 